How to Say Thank you in French: The Ultimate Guide

Knowing how to say thanks is a huge part of politeness. Especially in a polite society like France, a simple merci goes a long way. But what about the times when merci just wouldn’t suffice? Here in this article, we’ll take a look at the different ways to say thank you in French.

For starters, let’s review first this list of French words related to saying thanks in French.

French vocabulary for saying thanks

remercier

to thank

un merci

a thank you

un remerciement

the act of thanking

Les Remerciements

The Thanks

Reconnaissant (e) de

thankful; grateful

Avec reconnaissance

thankfully; with gratefulness

Soulagé (e)

thankful; relieved

Avec soulagement

thankfully; with a sense of relief

Ingrat(e)

Ungrateful

Action de grâce (use in Canada)

thanksgiving / the act of giving thanks

How to say thank you in French

Merci - Thank you

Merci is the standard way of expressing gratitude in French. You can use it in all types of situations whether formal or informal, regardless of what it is you’re thanking someone for.

The word itself has a long history: in the Roman times, merci meant “wages” and later on the word evolved to mean “a favor” or “a mercy”. Eventually, the word took on the meaning of thanks that we know of today.

Merci has plenty of variations (which we’ll tackle in a little while) but if you’re thanking many people at once, you can say:

Merci à tous - thank you all or thanks to all of you

What to say when a simple thanks isn’t enough

There will be times when merci just isn’t enough. When you’ve been treated to a gift or kindness so grand that saying a simple thanks would actually seem short of an insult, these are the right words to say:

Merci beaucoup

thank you very much

mille mercis

a thousand thanks

merci mille fois

thank you so much

Mille fois merci

thanks a thousand times

Merci infiniment

thank you so much

Un grand merci

big thanks

C'est gentil de ta part

that’s kind of you (informal)

c’est vraiment gentil de votre part

that’s really kind of you (formal)

je vous remercie du fond du coeur

I thank you from the bottom of my heart

Formal ways to say thank you in French

The ways of thanking mentioned above may be used in formal situations. But if you really wish to be more formal in expressing your thanks, you can say:

Merci bien - thanks a lot

While merci bien may be used to say a genuine thanks, with a different tone and context, it can be used as a sarcastic thanks.

Let’s see some examples.

The scenario: Your girlfriend cheated on you. After you found out about it, she says sorry and wants you to go back to the way you were before. A fresh start, perhaps. But you’d rather move on with your life. You can say:

How to Refuse with a Thanks

Just like the sarcastic thanks, you can also use merci to refuse something. This is similar to “thanks, but no thanks” in English.

Non, merci - no, thanks

You can also say merci but with hand gestures such as palms out as if to say, ‘stop right there’

Shake your head while saying merci

Say merci bien but with a tone of refusal

French thank you cards--yes or no?

Thank you cards (une carte de remerciement) are not as common in France as in other countries. Though is not impolite to send one after being on the receiving end of an extra special act, but it is not usual for French people to do so. So don’t expect the same from the French!

How to say thank you in French letters

In French letters, this is usually the way to say thanks towards the end of your letter:

You can also check out French Phrasebook by Talk in French. It’s got all the phrases you need to travel confidently in France. Plus, it has a menu guide and a section on French cultural differences, too!

Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Twitter and Google +